Finally, a German guy on the Man in the Kitchen series! I met Carsten at work in Stuttgart a few months ago and I recently discovered he’s been leading this double life: a systems engineering superhero by (week)day and rockstar chef by night (weekend?) kind of thing. Carsten even makes his own grills and smokers.

Seriously, what’s not to like from this classic British dessert? Butterscotchy crust. Thick salted caramel. Sweet, tangy bananas. Heaps of whipped cream. Grated chocolate on top, in the original recipe. Me, I like crunchy cacao nibs on top; it adds texture and flavour to the pie.

2016 was a personally challenging year: it tried to kill me (by way of a nicked artery during surgery), it broke my heart a few times (mostly the high-maintenance men in my life, the women are very chill), it took me so far out of my comfort zone that I wasn’t sure I’d find my way, it gave me odd coping mechanisms… Read More

Nothing beats fresh sardines off the grill during sardine season, simply seasoned with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon and drizzle of olive oil. Crunchy and charred outside, moist goodness inside, we’d simply top thick sliced Portuguese bread with the grilled sardines, and eat it with our hands, heads and all. We used to go to Foz do… Read More

Wow, autumn just flew by. Bad bad Yasmina for not trying new recipes, writing on food and photographing dishes. It’s been months since my last blog post. Hopefully the short winter break gives me the space to finish up a few overdue draft posts that I can publish on a more regular basis. In the meantime, here is a short update on our… Read More

**Germans, trigger warning for lots of garlic!** This is a riff on Phil’s chicken with 40 cloves of garlic that he cooked, shot and styled last year; it was one of our first shoots together. Yes, that’s right, 40 cloves of garlic! I can hear the collective gasp of Ze Tschermanns as they read first “garlic gravy” and then the “40 cloves… Read More